Mango Man Cool Ties

Neck And Neck With Silk

Ketchup. Rain. Ink. Coffee. Every man who wears neckties knows just about anything can ruin his silk ties. And nothing looks worse than a spotted tie.

Ruining three expensive silk neckties in two weeks bothered Steve Kender of Jupiter so much that he asked his wife, Linda, to make him a sturdier tie out of a bright cotton-print fabric. Last April, he started wearing them in his job as an advertising salesman for radio station WOLL-Oldies 94.3 FM.

"People flipped out. Nobody had seen anything like it," Kender said. "Men need to express themselves. The only thing a tie is good for is to make a statement of individuality. It's the centerpiece. The rest is a fixed uniform."

Soon, people at advertising agencies he gave the ties to as presents were calling him with orders. He learned how to make ties, too, and purchased a variety of cotton prints. The demand grew. In two weeks he had orders for 150 ties. Mango Man Cool Ties was born. The name stems from a mango tree on the radio station's property.

Last June he quit his job and, since then, has sold more than 5,000 ties. Kender sells the ties for $25 each or five for $100. He started the business with no capital, just a strong belief that it could succeed.

Kender, 53, had owned two dive shops in Ohio before moving to Florida 10 years ago. Before that he was an industrial arts teacher for 15 years. He grew up in a copper miner's family in Montana and, after finishing high school, went to work in the mines. A mining accident, in which he almost died, made him determined to go to college and become a teacher.

"I've never been in the garment industry. I've never worked in a clothing store and never sewed in my life, but I know how to market something," Kender said.

Kender was worried about competing against large companies that import neckties for a few dollars apiece then sell them for $50 or $60 each. Those manufacturers sometimes make as many as 60,000 ties out of one fabric.

"The answer was to make a limited edition of each tie - 20 to 40 of each," Kender said.

The Kenders name each tie after selecting the fabrics. The collection includes ties such as "Neon Parrots," "Cow Jumps over the Moon," "Man's Best Friend," "Heat Lighting," and "Save the Children."

Kender said he aimed to make a top-quality, durable cotton tie that sold for less than silk ties. The ties can be handwashed. Kender said he has sold ties in cities from Chicago to Dallas and Atlanta, either directly or through people who have purchased ties from him. Although the ties are in about 20 stores in Florida, such as Harold Grant in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens, Kender prefers selling with a personal touch. He has been invited to large offices to show his ties and even has held tie parties where men eat pizza and buy ties as if they were Tupperware.

"Guys are not used to that kind of shopping. Most ties are bought by women. They're too conservative when buying because they don't know what the man will like," Kender said.

Bob Wilmoth, a stockbroker at Dean Witter, West Palm Beach, first saw Kender and his ties at a model airplane show last spring. Kender sold only seven ties there. Wilmoth told him to come by his office to deliver a few ties. Soon, Dean Witter brokers in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton were wearing the ties.

When Wall Street executives visited, they took ties back to New York. Kender estimates he has sold about 1,000 ties to Dean Witter associates alone.

"There's a real movement afoot for bright ties. They add color to an outfit. They make you feel good," said Wilmoth, who owns about 25 Mango Man ties.

"The styles have gone to the point where you can get away with fun ties. Some of them have a tropical motif. It gives you a sense of feeling of what Florida is all about. The Caribbean soul comes through," Evans said.

At Bistro Zenith, Boca Raton, the waiters, waitresses and bartenders all wear Mango Man ties with either a sun or moon and stars theme chosen to match the restaurant's decor, General Manager Willie Humrighouse said.